When a startup pivots into a different business model, it’s only natural that some of its previous assets and initiatives fall by the wayside.
Such was the case at Richmond-based OccasionGenius, founded by Nate Marcus as a local events directory and planning platform. As the company spun out of that model and toward software for hotels and others in the hospitality industry, it planned to leave the directory behind.
But that wasn’t to be the case.
Marcus’ local friends, all with businesses of their own, thought the events directory asset was too great an opportunity to waste. Mark Jones had landed three clients through the platform just that week. So he and two others bought that part of the company and formed a new startup out of it: EventZingo.
The new venture, founded by Jones, Joe Doran and Mike Murphy, recently joined Startup Virginia and launched in the River City. Its website allows individuals or corporate event planners to find and contact local entertainment, food and recreational venues geared toward group outings.
Users can search categories for private events like date nights or group outings, while the corporate events section holds a database of team-building activities and event rentals. The site is free to peruse, and EventZingo charges membership fees to businesses to list their wares.
“We saw the value [of the platform],” Doran said in an interview. “But we also saw that we could rebrand it and double down on user experience and make it easier to search, add extra user tools, and make it even easier for new business to sign up, get data and see better ROI.”
An example of those additions, which the group developed over the past year, is a polling function that enables groups to vote on what activity to do. It’s also developing a feature that lets users set a personal reminder for future event ideas.
The platform allows planners – even for corporate events – to schedule an outing in less than 30 minutes, according to the company. And planners can send a note, such as “Can you supply wine,” to all potential venues at the same time.
EventZingo is operating and building its client list just in the Richmond market now, with plans to expand once its model is well established. Doran said its second market would come online in Q1 2020, with the goal of 50-plus markets by 2024. It has four full-time employees.
He said the startup has started a seed funding round as demand heats up and the market opportunity looms.
“The event space we’re targeting is $305 billion as of 2017, and nobody is in that marketplace,” Doran said. “This is fire, and nobody else is seeing this.”
